New Port Authority Bus Terminal Renderings Reveal the Future of Hell’s Kitchen

New renderings for Port Authority Bus Terminal’s upcoming redesign give a glimpse of Hell’s Kitchen’s future, with buildings that will tower over the southern part of the neighborhood.

Before-and-after renderings presented by the NYC Department of City Planning (DCP) on behalf of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey depict what the streets near the new terminal will look like.

The main terminal, projected to be completed by 2032, will reach 160 feet over 9th Avenue between W40th and 41st Streets — more than twice the height of the current 70-foot-tall terminal. In the future, buses carrying commuters and visitors will stream over it on their way to New Jersey.

The terminal’s bridge over the avenue will begin at 55 feet tall, and includes retail space at street level. Ben Huff, the senior transportation project manager at DCP, argued in a May 28 City Planning Commission review session , that raising the bridge would create an enhanced pedestrian experience. At the same time, it would dramatically alter the skyline along 9th Avenue.

Between W40th and W39th Streets, a maze of at least eight bridges would cross over 10th Avenue — an 800% increase from the current single bridge.

The Port Authority plans to begin by building a storage and staging facility that would act as a temporary bus terminal while the new main terminal is being constructed. After all work is completed the facility would house the idling buses that currently line the streets surrounding the terminal as they wait for their next ride of the day.

The new staging terminal, to be built by 2028, will rise to 168 feet above W40th Street at Dyer Avenue, adjacent to the Metro Baptist Church and will block all thru traffic headed east on the street. As W42ST previously reported , the new building will eclipse much of the church’s sunlight, threatening the urban farm on its roof.

Notably, Huff did not mention Hell’s Kitchen (or even Midtown West), the very neighborhood that the new and old terminals cut through, in his 84-slide presentation. “The land use around the project site is primarily high-density commercial,” he explained.

“This is an excellent location for a transportation facility,” Huff said, “with Times Square and the theater district to the north, Javits Convention Center and Hudson Yards to the west, and Penn Station and Moynihan train hall to the south,” but not Hell’s Kitchen.

Neighbors and commuters on the streets had differing impressions of the new bus terminal renderings when W42ST shared them.

“I can’t imagine anything not being an improvement,” one local resident said after glancing at the image.

Mamie, a visual artist, lives and works in Hell’s Kitchen and has a 15th floor studio on 39th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue.

“That looks gigantic,” she said of the image. “That’s really tall and it makes me aware that my studio won’t have a nice view for very long.” Her studio’s north-facing windows currently overlook Hell’s Kitchen north of the bus terminal.

Overall she is content to see the bus terminal rehabilitated and the prospect of construction stretching until at least 2032 doesn’t overly concern her; “I feel like the whole city has been a construction site for the past decade,” she said. “It’s just something that I’ve come to expect.”

A commuter from Teaneck, New Jersey, who asked to remain anonymous, had a far simpler proposal for the Port Authority Bus Terminal — rather than building entirely new facilities, “just clean it.”

“I think that money should go to something else, like affordable housing,” she said, referring to the project’s $10 billion price tag. “The service is good, everything is fine, just clean it up.”

In its plans and renderings, the Port Authority is promising to deliver public green space to the community — but not until 2040 at the earliest. It will come in the third phase of the redesign on top of Dyer Avenue between W39th and W37th Streets. They will initially be capped and serve as staging for construction equipment.

The bus terminal redesign is currently at the initial stages of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Process, which requires input from the Borough President, community board, City Council and ultimately Mayor Adams.

The Port Authority will be presenting an update at two upcoming Manhattan Community Board 4 meetings on Wednesday, June 12 and Tuesday, June 18, where members of the public will also have the opportunity to share their opinions on the vast infrastructure project.

* All renderings are courtesy of the New York City Department of Planning

The post New Port Authority Bus Terminal Renderings Reveal the Future of Hell’s Kitchen appeared first on W42ST .